According to many medical experts, infants who sleep on their back or side have a reduced risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) when compared to those who sleep on their stomachs. Starting in 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics began recommending that infants sleep on their back/side in an effort to reduce the incidence of SIDS. One of the theories being that small infants with little or no control of their heads may, while face down, smother themselves on their bedding. In an effort to reduce the risk of SIDS, various infant sleep aids, such as infant sleep positioners, have been developed. For example, the INFANT SUPPORT SYSTEM as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,176 B2, issued Apr. 12, 2005 to Houghteling, includes a cushion for supporting an infant and includes positioning support members for maintaining the infant in a safe sleeping position. In addition, the casing of the cushion includes breathable material to help prevent suffocation.
Since the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that infants sleep lying on their back/side, infants are more often placed in a supine position for sleeping. An unanticipated effect of the supine sleeping position is an increase in the number of infants developing deformational or positional plagiocephaly. Positional plagiocephaly is characterized by a flat spot on the back or one side of the infant's head. Positional plagiocephaly is caused by the infant's head remaining in one position for too long or being repeatedly positioned in the same manner while sleeping. A newborn infant's skull is relatively deformable due to flexibility of the bone plates and non-fusion between adjacent bone plates. This flexibility allows the infant's skull to pass through the mother's pelvis during birth, but also allows the skull to deform if it remains in one place for too long. Experts now recommend that infants sleep on their back with their head positioned on one side or the other to prevent a flat or misshapen area in the back of their skull. However, if an infant spends too much time sleeping with his/her head positioned on the same side, plagiocephaly may occur on the side of the infant's head. If the weight of the infant's head is allowed to exert pressure on the same side of the infant's head for too long, the skull deformation may become permanent.
In an effort to reduce the instances of plagiocephaly while continuing to protect infants against the possibility of SIDS, some manufacturers have marketed infant positioners that encourage an infant's parents to place the infant on his/her back with a reminder to indicate which way to position the infant's head within the sleep positioner. Specifically, the INFANT SAFETY SYSTEM described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,281 B2, issued May 8, 2007 to Hahn, includes a concave back support and abdominal support for positioning an infant on its side. The position marker is attached to the infant positioner with Velcro and may be moved from side to side to indicate how to position the infant within the positioner. The position marker is intended to remind the parent to alternate the positioning of the infant to help ensure the infant does not spend too much time with his/her head on one side.
While current products appear helpful in reducing the instances of SIDS and plagiocephaly, there is still room for improvement in the areas of convenience and versatility for sleep aids in general, sleep position indicators in particular. Similarly, it is believed that the breathability features of infant sleep positioners can be enhanced to further reduce cases of sudden infant death. Accordingly, there is a need for infant sleep aids that have enhanced breathability. Also, there is a need for a more versatile sleep position indicator that it is simpler to use, thereby encouraging its use.